


Giant Bat

by dara3008



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Gen, Leonardo's Flying Machine, M/M, Venezia | Venice, could be gen, could be one-sided, i can't write something one-sided, or as its also known, the Giant Bat, who are we kidding though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 20:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4319916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dara3008/pseuds/dara3008
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezio finally gives in to his curiosity and asks Leonardo if he can try out the Flying Machine. At first Leonardo refuses but he's never been known to resist Ezio's persuasion skills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giant Bat

**Author's Note:**

> This obviously takes place before the attack plan on the Palazzo Ducale. In this fic Ezio is simply curious and wants to try the Flying Machine out for the heck of it.

“Say, Leonardo.”

“Dio mio!” Wincing and looking up from his recent painting, a small portrait of a merchant’s daughter for her mother’s birthday, Leonardo threw Ezio an accusing glare. “What is it, Ezio?” The assassin has made it his hobby to ambush him in his own workshop. He has gotten way too good in silent approach.

Grinning at him boyishly, Ezio jumped down from the windowsill he’s been cowering on. “That… flying machine of yours. Does it work?” he asked, seemingly blasé, but Leonardo knew him to well. He was planning something.

Putting down his colour pallet, the maestro frowned at him. “The ‘giant bat’? I don’t know. I don’t exactly have anyone to test it.” He grabbed a small piece of cloth and started to clean his fingers off paint.

The younger made a pleased sound, walking over to the wing-like wooden device. “Now you do.”

Confused Leonardo looked around his workshop, almost sure he’d find a third person there. “I do?”

“Yes, me.”  Letting his finger’s gently glide over the linen, Ezio grinned even wider. “I will test it for you.”

“No.”

He stilled at the brusque answer. “No? Why not?” Chuckling, he walked over to the maestro and leaned down to be on the same eye level as Leonardo on his stool. “You need someone to test it for you and I am willing to do so. What is the problem, amico mio?”

Standing up, Leonardo put his index finger in the middle of Ezio’s chest and pushed him slightly away. “The problem is, that it is way too dangerous. I am not letting you do this.”

“Come on, Leonardo. It is not like danger is anything new to me? You would at least have someone who knows dangerous situations and knows how to get out of them in one piece.” Ezio chuckled again, although he was slightly confused about this reluctance. Leonardo was usually very eager to test his inventions.

The older shook his head. “Even you are not used to flying, Ezio. What if something goes wrong and you fall, what if…” _you break your neck._ Shaking his head more vigorously, Leonardo walked towards the device. “It is too dangerous.”

Losing the easy grin, the assassin walked over to his friend. “Do you have such little faith in your invention, maestro?” He teased.

Leonardo glared at him. “That is not the problem. I have more than enough faith in my abilities, Ezio but this is different. If something goes wrong, you could die.” He gritted his teeth. “I am not risking this. You are too important.”

Rolling his eyes, Ezio sighed. “I know my cause is important, Leonardo, it is not like I am actively trying to get myself killed.”

“I am not talking about your cause as an assassin. I am talking about you.” Putting his hand on Ezio’s shoulder, Leonardo looked into his eyes urgently. “You are my friend, Ezio. You are important to _me_.”

Well aware of the faint blush that was creeping up on his face, the younger quickly turned towards the machine again. “I… Thank you, Leonardo.” This was new to him. Aside from his family he never really had anyone say something like this to him. “But Leonardo, think about it.” He wouldn’t give up so easily though. “I am by far the most qualified for this kind of test. Will you just let your invention rot? I promise I will do anything you say, exactly how you say it.”

“Why are you so eager for this, Ezio? What happened to that disbelieving laugh you gave when I first told you about his on our way to Venezia?” Leonardo levelled a challenging stare at him. Clearing his throat, Ezio mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Eagle’. “I’m sorry?”

Staring down at his boots, Ezio sighed. “I was climbing one of the viewpoints on the far west of the city when I saw an eagle fly high above me. It looked… I was intrigued and wondered what that would feel like. Being even higher up than I already was. Flying…” His cheeks flushed pink again, this time from embarrassment. He sounded like a boy.

Leonardo actually chuckled at him. “That is your reason? Curiosity?” He couldn’t see any fault in this. All his inventions started with curiosity. Ezio nodded his head, still looking down. Contemplating, the maestro looked from his friend to the device. “And you will listen to every word I say? You will now try anything crazy with it? You will be very careful?” Looking up with a hopeful glint in his eyes, Ezio nodded his head again, this time with more energy. Sighing, still worried about the younger, Leonardo worried his lip between his teeth. “What is the highest building in Venezia? A legal one, please, we will not be able to sneak the machine up somewhere.”

\---

Since the highest buildings are mostly towers and highly secure places, they chose one of the higher cathedrals. Sneaking in was easier than Leonardo would have thought, although he probably shouldn’t be surprised. Ezio was an assassin after all, sneaking was… well one of his many talents. High up as they were, Leonardo couldn’t clench that weary feeling down. He was way too worried.

“I will be fine, Leonardo. I have faith in your invention.” Ezio stressed, squeezing Leonardo’s arm gently.

Biting his lip yet again, the older huffed out a laugh. “You are way too trusting then, my friend.” Running through the instructions of the machinery was easy, Ezio was a quick learner after all.  They had him equipped in now time. “Alright. See this building down there? I will wait for you there, so don’t take off before you see me on the rooftop, understood?”

“Are you going to catch me, amico mio?” The teasing tone was back and Leonardo rolled his eyes.

His stomach was in tight little knots. “Please Ezio, if anything goes wrong just forget the machine and try to jump into a haystack or one of the canals, just please be careful.” He stressed.

“Have a little faith in me, Leonardo, I will be fine. And have a little faith in yourself, too.” The younger squeezed his arm again.

Releasing a long breath, Leonardo turned around. “Alright. Wait for me.”

\---

From his stand on the rooftop, Leonardo could barely make out where Ezio was. It was starting to get dark around him as he squinted up to look at the viewpoint. His hands fisted into his trousers when he saw Ezio take off. “Oh Dio mio…” Watching the first wobbly seconds, Leonardo could’ve sworn he almost suffered a heart attack but then Ezio seemed to have found his balance and was actually soaring through the sky. “It worked… It worked!” Forgetting himself in his equations for a second, Leonardo jumped up in childish glee.

But then something pushed Ezio to the right, bringing him off course. Alarmed, Leonardo watched as he was carried more and more to the right and away from his goal. The wind changed directions. Oh no. Tripping over himself to get down from the rooftop, Leonardo lowered himself on the pavement and took off after Ezio, looking up now and then, not risking losing him out of sight. It was almost completely dark by now, just a few people on the streets and yet they still all looked at him weirdly as he raced past them. He must’ve looked ridiculous, but there was no time thinking about this right now.

Ezio was getting lower and lower, until he vanished behind a high building and Leonardo heard a heart stopping crashing noise. “Oh Dio mio!” Upping his pace, he sped behind the building and saw a dust cloud coming off from a rooftop, climbing up on it as quickly as he could. “Ezio!” What greeted him was the sight of broken wood, torn linen and Ezio right in the middle of the wreckage… laughing. “Ezio.” Running up to him and sinking to his knees beside him, Leonardo grabbed his shoulders. He just wouldn’t stop laughing. Oh god, did he hit his head or something? “Ezio! Ezio, what’s wrong?!” Shaking his shoulders gently, as to now rattle any potentially broken bones, Leonardo started to panic. “Ezio, answer me!”

“I flew!” Startling at the outburst, the maestro frowned. “I flew! Madre di mio, I flew, Leonardo!” The words all came out between even more laughter, but Ezio finally opened his eyes and was grinning at him, joy and excitement clear in his eyes. “I flew!”

Leonardo checked for the last time if there was any sign of pain or worse and then flopped down on his behind with a long sigh of relief. “You scared me to death, amico mio.” He stressed and Ezio stopped laughing long enough to apologize and grab his arm to haul himself up into a sitting position. He winced, maybe not awfully hurt but definitely bruised black and blue.

“Mi dispace, Leonardo, I am just so excited.” Turning to sit in front of the older, with one knee up, the other leg stretched out next to Leonardo, he grinned at him. “It was amazing!” Which is when he chose to look around him, and promptly winced again. “I am so sorry about your machine, my friend.”

This time it was Leonardo who laughed, although slightly hysterical. “Forget about that stupid machine, Ezio. I can build a new one whenever. I am just glad that you are in one piece.”

Still giggling, Ezio leaned forward and rested his forehead on Leonardo’s shoulder. “I am fine, I told you I would be just fine.”

Bumping his own head against Ezio’s, Leonardo huffed. “It did not look good from where I was standing, believe me.”

“Mi dispace, forgive me.” It sounded sincere enough, though Ezio was still giggling under his breath and the more Leonardo heard of it, the stronger was the urge to just giggle along to forget the heart stopping moments before he found Ezio alright. “I really am fine, Leonardo, stop worrying so much.”

Shaking his head, the maestro chuckled. “I always worry about you, Idiota.”

“Hmm… I know.” Ezio grinned lazily, his adrenaline slowly fading and leaving him tired. “’s nice.”

Leonardo flushed slightly when the younger shuffled closer. “What is?”   

“Having someone to worry about me.” Surprised by the honesty, Leonardo stayed silent until he heard even soft breathing. Looking down he saw that Ezio had indeed fallen asleep on him. Huffing out a laugh, he looked around them at the wrecked parts of his flying machine.

He looked up at the stars and let out a last relieved sigh. “I am really glad that you are fine, amore mio.”


End file.
